Who are Microwave Jenny? Microwave Jenny are a now husband and wife duo comprised of Tessa Nuku on vocals and Brendon Boney on guitar and vocals. Both artists have Indigenous backgrounds. Where are they from? They have spent much of the past few years living in the Central Coast – with a brief foray in […]

There are no shortage of Australian fashion blogs, with a new one born every minute. Some young Australians have had the talent, drive, and importantly, luck that has brought their vision to the world stage. Blogs such as Gary Pepper Girl, 4th and Bleeker, Harper and Harley, K is for Kani, Oracle Fox, and Not So Naked […]

I’ve had the pleasure of writing about music professionally for the last seven years, from reviewing the newest records to witnessing hundreds of live performances around the world. Reviewing something on record and something on stage each requires its own approach, though these tips will traverse both worlds.

Ask any random person in the universe what it takes to be a good writer, and you’ll invariably get one of two answers: “Huh? How the bloody hell should I know!?” or; “Oh yes absolutely; you must read voraciously!”

Have you ever seen a whale asleep? Imagine being a creature that size, moving slowly through the ocean, feeding and mating. You can’t roll into a rock crevice to nap away in safety – you’re both enormous and a mammal, so you need to sleep while remembering to breathe.

How do we measure happiness? What are the key ingredients to a fulfilling life? These are few of the questions posed by an emerging (and often forgotten) area of psychology: positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on promoting wellbeing and happiness within individuals. Founded by renowned psychologist, Martin Seligman, little over a decade ago, it has […]

Young Adelaide based artist Tkay Maidza has been absolutely slaying in 2015 so far, from bringing crowds to their knees then making them stomp the hell out of the ground across the country on the Laneway Festival tour to heading overseas to perform at SXSW in Austin, Texas. With her debut album still on the […]

What’s it like being Aboriginal and doing law at Sydney Uni? Having finished my first year, the word that I’ve come up for it is that it’s shit-tastic – that is, it’s shit but fantastic at the same time. The workload is hell and there isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t think […]

Freedom of speech is a tricky thing. Although it seems obvious to say that most people believe in the freedom of speech – most people in the developed world, anyway – it’s also pretty obvious that we don’t actually think that speech should be entirely free. You might be appalled at this idea. “But Ryan, […]

The single of this week on A*STAR belongs to 27-year-old Melbourne artist Courtney Barnett, who released her debut record Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. last week (March 20th) on her own label Milk Records. Currently touring the USA and having won the prestigious Grulke Prize for Developing Non-US artist at […]

Alice Pester’s first impression of the University of Sydney Roller Derby League (USRDL) was “sheer terror… but inspiring terror”. Pester, a.k.a. ‘Pestilence’ approached the game in 2013 as “a girl who had never considered I could do anything as physical as that”. Though at first she was intimidated by the sight of “these incredibly tough […]